


why did we get dealt these cards

by bonanasplit



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Canon-typical language, Explicit Language, F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Ethan Green, Pre-Canon, Trans Female Character, Trans Lex Foster, Transphobia, transphobic violence, will add more tags as this goes along, wow we're really awful huh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21684562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonanasplit/pseuds/bonanasplit
Summary: and they love each other soandrogynouscloser than you know, love each other soandrogynous(title from california by max, summary from androgynous by the replacements)
Relationships: Lex Foster/Ethan Greene
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70





	why did we get dealt these cards

**Author's Note:**

> the trans lex/enby ethan fic like,, two people wanted (us. it was us)  
> quick note to eliminate or at least minimise confusion: ethan uses they/them pronouns but is referred to by everyone else with he/him. chapters from their perspective will use they, chapters from lex's will use he.  
> enjoy!! (feedback is very welcome!)  
> 💚 max and bo
> 
> tw: transphobia-motivated violence and language (no slurs)

Standing at a little over six feet tall, with a black leather jacket, silver earrings and a jawline that could cut glass, Ethan Green looked like the kind of person who would commit arson for fun.

The night our story begins, they were perched on the rooftop of a small tattoo shop, playing with a battered coin and watching the world go by underneath them.

Not that there was much going by, given it was approaching 10pm.

They were almost beginning to doze off, when there was a shout from the street below, jerking them back to full alertness.

Rising as quietly as they could, Ethan took in the situation below.

Seven boys, all in varsity jackets and baseball caps, surrounded a girl who looked about the same age as Ethan. They were whooping with delight as she bounced between them like a pinball. 

She let out a cry of pain, falling sideways as she was slapped across the face so hard Ethan could hear it from their perch across the street. She landed hard on her knees and didn't get up again.

"What the-- fuck!" They hissed, sliding down the roof as quietly as possible, and jumping down to the pavement.

One of the assholes jerked the girl's head back, the streetlight revealing a sharp peak in her throat. Ethan heard laughter and some choice words that made their stomach twist in on itself.

“Hey!” They shouted, stepping forward so they were illuminated by the streetlight. “Fuck off!”

Asshole Number One let go of the girl's hair, letting her face hit the pavement, advancing on Ethan where they stood.

“Is that- Ethan Green, you lanky bastard, what are you doing here?” he grinned at them, holding his hand out, asking Ethan to shake it. They pushed his hand away. “Why don’t you just, go home now, let me finish up here, we can catch up later okay?”

“I don’t- I don’t think so. As much as I would love to go back home right now, like really it would be great, I think you’re beating up a girl in the middle of the night, and you really should be heading home about now, before someone- oh such as myself- decides to intervene.” 

“Don’t tell me what to do, Green.” He pushed Ethans shoulder lightly, smiling like he had just finished beating a 10 year old at a game of four square. “I mean, it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong here, he started it.” He pointed to the girl kneeling on the ground, her face shielded from their view by the boy’s friends, although goons would most likely be a more accurate word, they thought.

Ethan pushed him right back, making Scott laugh, looking at them like they had just bought one thousand live ants with all of their familial inheritance.

“What the fuck, dude!” He rounded on them, pushing back, this time much harder.

“You need to leave.”

“Or fucking what. What are you gonna do, call my mom? Oh- what did we call you back in elementary school-” he tapped his jaw sarcastically. “-Tattletail Green- was that it?” 

“You know what Scott, I think I will.” Ethan took out their phone, and a look of concern flashed over Scott's face, covered quickly by an exaggerated snicker. 

“What- what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means-” They started searching for his mother’s contact number. “-I actually am gonna call your mother, how do you think she would take to you beating the shit out of someone a week away from the election for mayor- that would not look so good for her, would it.” 

Scott turned to look at his friends, Ethan pushing him towards them with one hand, the other hovering threateningly over the call button. “Fuck you, Myers.”

Scott spun, his left fist swinging round in a vicious hook that probably would have broken Ethan's nose.

If it had hit.

Unfortunately for him, 8 years of martial arts and years of being bullied meant Ethan had quite the advantage when it came to blocking punches, and Scott didn’t even see Ethan’s leg kicking him in the knee until he was on the ground, his friends rushing over toward him.

“If I were you guys, I would leave. Now.” They scooped up Scott’s baseball cap from where it had fallen, putting it on their own head. “Oh, and maybe put some ice on that knee.” 

Scott and his posse took one more look at Ethan, towering over their group, and scattered.

Ethan grinned at their retreating forms and turned to the girl where she kneeled, offering their hand to help her up.

“You okay?” 

She had bruises all over her face, a busted lip, the entire package, and suddenly Ethan was thinking about going back and punching Scott a few times for good measure. 

She shook them off, looking at Ethan like a deer in the headlights, like she was looking for an escape. 

“Hey, come on, you need to clean up that cut so it doesn’t get infected.” The girl nodded, still looking shaky, and they smiled gently. “Besides, Scott’s lackeys are gonna realize there’s seven of them and one of me, if they can even count that high.” 

\---

Ethan’s house was big and empty, and if his dad was home for once he wouldn’t have noticed them come through the door anyways. They walked through the house, walking up the stairs to the bathroom. Cleaning up cuts was a familiar feeling, although usually the cuts were their own. 

“My name is Ethan.” they said, softly wiping the blood off of the girls face.

“Lex.” 

“I’m sorry about those assholes,” they whispered, focusing on what they were doing, “They’re just-“

“I would’ve- I would’ve fought back you know. I’m not helpless I just.” she put her hands on her face for a moment. “Me and Scott we’re going out or whatever and it- he was tricking me I guess because we were going to the movies and then all his friends were there and I just. I didn’t know what to do and they were all calling me- shit.” She teared up a bit, putting her hands over her eyes.

Ethan pulled her hands down gently, holding them in their own. “It’s okay, Lex. You didn’t deserve that. Scott’s a transphobic piece of shit.”

She looked up at them like she had just been caught cheating on the SAT “You- but I-” 

Ethan shook their head, chuckling at the look on Lex’s face “Your sister and my brother went to the same preschool, I still remember dorky middle school Lex.”

She laughed, pushing her face into Ethan’s leather jacket with a groan. “With those god awful snapbacks and oh my god- the hightops! Oh, Jesus Christ, I’m so sorry.”

Ethan chuckled, grabbing the band-aids they had in the cupboard, putting one gently on Lex’s forehead. “If you ever need me, you can call, okay?” They grabbed a pen out of their pocket, writing their number on her hand. “Those fuckwads most likely won’t try and mess with you again, because Scott’s mom and my moms are best friends, but just in case.” 

Lex hopped off the counter, smiling at Ethan before examining her face in the mirror. “Thanks. I would say the bruises and shit look badass, but that band-aid kind of ruins it, huh.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, nothing is cooler than a good ninja turtle band-aid!”


End file.
